Ninety Percent Of Men Will Experience The Problem Of A Swollen Prostate
As we grow older health problems inevitably start to occur and one problem that you are just about sure to run into if you live long enough is a swollen prostate gland.
Usually the problem is first seen in men once they have passed 45, though it can occasionally appear at earlier ages, and you have about a 50 percent chance of developing an enlarged prostate by the age of 60.
Once you have reached the age of 60 the chances of developing the problem increase substantially and, by the time you reach the age of 80, your chances of having an enlarged prostate gland will be as high as 90 percent.
The prostate, which is situated just under the bladder and is a part of the reproductive system, grows quickly during puberty and by the time you reach maturity it weighs about one ounce and is roughly the same size as a walnut. However, what is often not appreciated is that this is not the end of its growth and that the prostate goes on growing very slowly for the rest of a man’s life.
However, in middle age cell growth characteristically begins to speed up in one area of the prostate gland that partially surrounds the urethra, which is responsible for carrying urine out of the body from the bladder.
Initially this accelerated growth of cells, that are non-cancerous, is relatively slow and most men will not experience any symptoms at all from it, or the symptoms will be so mild that they are dismissed as a simple case of ‘getting older’.
However, in time, as the prostate gland continues to enlarge, it will start to pinch the urethra interrupting the flow of urine from the bladder and the symptoms of the problem will start to appear. At first these will not be painful, or even especially uncomfortable, but they will get increasingly annoying as you begin to develop problems with passing water, the need to get up during the night to go to the bathroom and perhaps the embarrassing tendency to continue to dribble urine after you have visited the bathroom.
When this happens you ought to talk to your physician not simply to seek enlarged prostate gland treatment but also so that you can be screened for the possibility of any underlying and developing signs of prostate cancer.
Tags: bph, enlarged prostate, health, men's issues, mens health, prostate, prostate gland, prostate gland treatment, swollen prostate
